Mathematics as a Tool (Descriptive Statistics) (Midterm Period)

I. Overview: This module tackles mathematics as applied to different areas such as data
organization, analysis, or interpretation to make these data into a meaningful
information. Descriptive measures in statistics are the one in focus.
II. Learning Objectives: At the end of this module the students are expected to

a. Use variety of statistical tools to process and manage numerical data;

b. apply the methods of linear regression and correlations to predict the value of a variable
given a certain condition; and
c. advocate the use of statistical data in making important decisions.
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY: EACH
MEASURE PROVIDES A SINGLE VALUE
WHICH SUMMARIZES THE SET OF DATA
1. Arithmetic Mean or Mean – The mean of n numbers is the
 

sum of the numbers divided by n.

Six friends in a biology class of 20 students received test

grades of
92, 84, 65, 76, 88, and 90
Find the mean of these test scores.
2. Median – The Median of a ranked list of n numbers is:
 The middle number if n is odd,
 The mean of the two middle numbers if n is even.
Find the median of 4, 8, 1, 14, 9, 21, 12
So, the ranked is 1, 4, 8, 9, 12, 14, 21 and the median is ______?

Find the median of 46, 23, 92, 89, 77, 108

3. Mode - The Mode of a list of numbers is the number occurs most frequently.
Find the mode of
a. 18, 15, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, 21
b. 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 4, 7, 23
c. 12, 24, 12, 71, 48, 93, 71
  Weighted Mean – The value called the weighted mean is often used when some data values are
more important than the others.

The table shows Drillon’s fall semester course grades. Use the weighted mean
formula to find his GPA for the fall semester.
Course Course Course
Grade Unit
English B=3 4 12
History A=4 3 12
Chemistry D=1 3 3
Algebra C=2 4 8
Observed Frequency
Event Number of
Try thisof
Number homes with x
bedroom, x bedroom
2 5 10
3 25 75
4 10 40
5 5 25
MEASURES OF DISPERSION:
MEASURES THE SPREAD OF
DATA
1.   Range- The range of a set of data values is the difference between the greatest data value
and the least data value.
2. Standard Deviation- A measure of dispersion that is less sensitive to extreme values is the
standard deviation. The standard deviation of a set of numerical data makes use of the
amount by which each individual data value deviates from the mean.

a.
b.
3. Variance a. b.
Procedure for computing Standard Deviation
1. Determine the mean of n numbers
2. For each number, calculate the deviation (difference) between
the number and the mean of the numbers.
3. Calculate the square of each deviation and find the sum of these
squared deviation.
4. If the data is a population, then divide the sum by n. If the data
is a sample, then divide the sum by n-1.
5. Find the square root of the quotient in step 4.

 A student has the following quiz scores: 5, 8, 16, 17, 18, 20.
Find the standard deviation for this population of quiz scores.
X X-
2 -6 36
4 -4 16
77 -1
-1 11
12
12 44 16
16
15 7 49
15 7 49
118
118
A consumer group has tested a sample of 8 size-D batteries from each of 3 companies. The
results of the lists are shown in the following table. According to these tests, which
company produces batteries for which the values representing hours of constant use have
the smallest standard deviation?

Company Hours of constant use per battery Standard Deviation

EverSoBright 6.2, 6.4, 7.1, 5.9, 8.3, 5.3, 7.5, 9.3 1.328h
Dependable 6.8, 6.2, 7.2, 5.9, 7.0, 7.4, 7.3, 8.2 0.719h
Beacon 6.1, 6.6, 7.3, 5.7, 7.1, 7.6, 7.1, 8.5 0.877h

The batteries from Dependable company have the smallest standard deviation.
According to these results, the Dependable company produces the most
consistent batteries with regard to life expectancy under constant use.
 MEASURES OF RELATIVE POSITION
1.
   Z-Score – The z-score for a given data value x is the number of standard deviations that x
is above or below the mean of the data. The following formulas show how to calculate the z-
score for the value x in a population and in a sample.

Raul has taken two tests in his chemistry class. He scored 72 on the first test, for which the
mean of all scores was 65 and the standard deviation was 8. He received a 60 on a second
test, for which the mean of all scores was 45 and the standard deviation was 12. In
comparison to the other students, did Raul do better on the first test or the second test?

Raul scored 0.875 standard deviation above the mean on the first test and 1.25 standard
deviation above the mean on the second test. The z-scores indicate that, in comparison to
his classmates, Raul scored better on the second test than he did on the first test.
NORMAL CURVE

68.26%

95.44%
2. pth Percentile- A value x is called the pth percentile of a data set provides of the data values
are less than x.

In a recent year, the median annual salary for a physical therapist was $74,480. If the 90 th
percentile for the annual salary of a PT was $105,900, find the percent of physical therapists
whose annual salary was
a. More than $74,480. ans. 50% of the PT earned more than $74,480 per year
b. Less than $105,900. ans. 90%of all PT made less than $105,900.
c. Between $74,480 and $105,900. ans. 90%-50% = 40% of the PT earned $74,480 and
105,900.
Percentile for a Given Data Value
Given a set of data and a data value x,
 

On a reading examination given to 900 students,

Elaine’s score of 602 was higher than the scores of
576 of the students of the students who took the
examination. What is the percentile for Elaine’s
score?

Ans. Elaine’s score of 602 places her at the 64th percentile.

3.  Quartiles – The three that partition a ranked data set into four (approximately) equal groups are called the
quartiles of the data. For instance, for the data set below, the values
are the quartiles of the data.
2, 5, 5, 8, 11, 12, 19, 22, 23, 29, 31, 45, 83, 91, 104, 159, 181, 312, 354

The Median Procedure for Finding Quartiles

1. Rank the data.
2. Find the median of the data. This is the second quartile, Q2.
3. The firs quartile, Q1, is the median of the data values less than Q2. The third quartile,
Q3, is the median of the data values greater than Q2.
The following table lists the calories per 100 milliliters of 25 popular sodas. Find the quartiles for the data.
43 37 42 40 53 62 36 32 50 49
26 53 73 48 45 39 45 48 40 56
41 36 58 42 39
 Box-and-Whisker Plots – A box-and-whisker plot is often used to provide a visual summary of a set of
data. A box-and-whisker plot shows the median, the first and third quartiles, and the minimum and
maximum values of a data set.

Construction of a Box-and-Whisker Plot

1. Draw a horizontal scale that extends from the minimum data value to the maximum
data value.
2. Above the scale, draw a rectangle (box) with its left side at Q1 and its right side at
Q3.
3. Draw a vertical line segment across the rectangle at the median, Q2.
4. Draw a horizontal line segment, called a whisker, that extends from Q1 to the
minimum and another whisker that extends from Q3 to the maximum.
 Stem-and-Leaf Diagrams – The relative position of each data value in a small set of data can be graphically
displayed by using a stem-and leaf diagram. For instance, consider the following history test score.
65, 72, 96, 86, 43, 61, 75, 86, 98, 74, 84, 78, 85, 75, 86, 73

Stems Leaves
4 3
5
6 1 5
7 2 3 4 5 5 8
8 4 5 6 6 6
9 6 8
Legend: 8/6 represents 86

Steps in Construction of a Stem-and-Leaf Diagram

1. Determine the stems and list them in a column from smallest to largest or largest to smallest.
2. List the remaining digit of each stem as a leaf to the right of the stem.
3. Include a legend that explains the meaning of the stems and the leaves. Include the title of the diagram.
 NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS
 Frequency Distributions and Histograms – Large sets of data are often displayed using grouped frequency
distribution or a histogram. For instance, consider the following distribution.

Download Time (in Number of subscribers Percent of subscribers

seconds)
0-5 6 0.6
5-10 17 1.7
10-15 43 4.3
15-20 92 9.2
20-25 151 15.1
25-30 192 19.2
30-35 190 19.0
35-40 149 14.9
40-45 90 9.0
45-50 45 4.5
50-55 15 1.5
55-60 10 1.0
 Use the relative frequency distribution to determine the

a. percent of subscribers who required at least 25s to download the file.

b. probability that a subscriber chosen at random will require at least 5s but
less than 20s to download the file.
Solution:
a. The percent of data in all the classes with a lower boundary of 25s or more is the sum
of the percent. Thus the percent of subscribers who required at least 25s to download
the file is 69.1%.

b. The percent of data in all the classes with a boundary of 5s and an upper boundary of
20s is the sum of the percent. Thus the percent of subscribers who required at least 5s
but less than 20s to download the file is 15.2%. The probability that a subscriber
chosen at random will require at least 5s but less than 20s to download the file is 0.152.
 Properties of a Normal Distribution

Every normal distribution has the following properties:

1. The graph is symmetric about a vertical line through the mean of
the distribution.
2. The mean, median, and mode are equal.
3. The y-value of each point on the curve is the percent (expressed
as a decimal) of the data at the corresponding x-value.
4. Areas under the curve that are symmetric about the mean are
equal.
5. The total area under the curve is 1.
 Empirical Rule for a Normal Distribution

In a normal distribution, approximately

1. 68% of the data lie within 1 standard deviation of the mean.
2. 95% of the data lie within 2 standard deviation of the mean
3. 99.7% of the data lie within 3 standard deviation of the mean

A survey of 1000 U.S. gas stations that the price charged for a gallon of regular gas could be
closely approximated by a normal distribution with a mean of $3.10 and a standard deviation
of $0.18. How many of the station charge
a. between $2.74 and $3.46 for a gallon of regular gas?
b. less than $3.28 for a gallon of regular gas?
c. more than $3.46 for a gallon of regular gas?
Solution
a. 950
b. 840
c. 25
 The Standard Normal Distribution – The standard normal distribution is the normal distribution

that has a mean of 0 zero and a standard deviation of 1.

 The Standard Normal Distribution, Areas, Percentages, and Probabilities

In the standard normal distributions, the area of the distribution from z=a to z= b
represents
a. the percentage of z-values that lie in the interval from a to b.
b. the probability that z lies in the interval from a to b.

A soda machine dispenses soda into 12-ounce cups. Tests show that the actual amount of soda
dispensed is normally distributed, with a mean of 11.5 ounce and a standard deviation of 0.2 oz.
1. What percent of cups will receive less than 11.25 oz of soda?
2. What percent of cups will receive between 11.2 oz and 11.55 oz of soda?
3. If a cup is filled at random, what is the probability that the machine will overflow the
cup?
LINEAR REGRESSION AND
CORRELATION
Linear Regression
Research – wish to know whether two variables
are related. If the variables are determined to be
related, a scientist may then wish to find an equation
that can be used to model the relationship.
Data involving two variables are called bivariate
data.
 For instance, a geologist might want to know whether there is a relationship
between the duration of an eruption of a geyser and the time between
eruptions. A first step in this determination is to collect some data. The table
below gives bivariate data showing the time between two eruptions and the
duration of the second eruption for 5 eruptions of the geyser

Time between eruptions 272 227 237 238 203

(in seconds), x

Duration of eruption 89 79 83 82 81
(in seconds), y
LINEAR REGRESSION AND
CORRELATION
The Least-Square Regression Line
The least-squares regression line for a
set of bivariate data is the line that
minimizes the sum of the squares of the
vertical deviations from each data point to
the line.
LINEAR REGRESSION AND
CORRELATION
The Least-Square Regression Line
Formula
ˆ  ax  b, where
y
nxy   x  y 
a 
n x    x 
2 2

and b  y  ax
Time between Duration of
eruptions (in eruption
seconds), x (in seconds),
y XY X2

272 89 24,208 73,984 87.48

227 79 17,933 51,529 81.73
237 83 19,671 56,169
83.00
238 82 19,516 56,644 83.13

203 81 16,443 41,209 78.66

1,177 414 97,771 279,535

 Interpolation – The process of using an
equation to determine a
point between given data

points.
 Extrapolation – The process of using an
equation to determine a
point to the right or left of
a given data points.
 Linear Correlation Coefficient – To determine the strength of a
 

linear relationship between two variables

If the linear correlation coefficient r is positive, the relationship

between the variables has a positive correlation.
In this case, if one variable increases, the other variable also tends to
increase.
If r is negative, the relationship between the variables has a negative
correlation. In this case, if one variable increases, the other variable
tends to decrease.
Karl Pearson
The linear correlation coefficient indicates the strength of a linear
relationship between two variables; however, it does not indicate the
presence of a cause-and-effect relationship. For instance, the data in
the table below show the hours per week that a student spent playing
pool and the student’s weekly algebra test scores for those same
weeks.
Hours per week spent playing pool 4 5 7 8 10

Weekly algebra test score 52 60 72 79 83

Use the linear correlation coefficient formula to verify

r = 0.98
X Y x2 y2 xy
4 52 16 2704 208
5 60 25 3600 300
7 72 49 5184 504
8 79 64 6241 632
10 83 100 6889 830
34 346 254 24618 2474
 The linear correlation coefficient for the ordered pairs
in the table is r = 0.98. Thus there is a strong or very
high positive linear relationship between the student’s
algebra test score and the time the student spent playing
pool. This does not mean that the higher algebra test
scores were caused by the increased time spent playing
pool. The fact that the student’s test scores increased with
the increase in the time spent playing pool could be due to
many factors, or it could just be a coincidence.
Guilford’s suggested interpretation for values
of r.
r value Interpretation
Less than .20 Slight; almost negligible relationship
.20 - .40 Low correlation; definite but small relationship
.40 - .70 Moderate correlation; substantial relationship
.70 - .90 High correlation; marked relationship
.90 - 1.00 Very high correlation; very dependable
relationship